“Bourbon and water for me,” Viola Duday said promptly.
Wolfe rang for Fritz, and he came in to help, and Eric Hagh offered his services. There was some moving around during the process of serving, and when it was over I noticed that Hagh had homesteaded on the couch with Sarah. Andy Fomos was the only customer for the wine. Wolfe, of course, had beer. I had myself a tall glass of water — not that I don’t like something with more authority in off hours, but that hour was far from off. What I wasn’t getting in my notebook I was filing in my bean for future reference, and with that bunch I had no faculties to spare.
The idea of a Softdown walkout got no further mention. When all had been refreshed, Helmar stuck his jaw out and began, “On the question of the authenticity of that—”
Wolfe cut him off. “No, sir,” he said emphatically. “Your notion of the purpose of this meeting, and Mr. Hagh’s notion, and Mr. Fomos’s notion, are all different and all wrong. The purpose is an inquiry by me to try to learn whether any or all of you are implicated in the murder of Priscilla Eads. If I decide that you are not, the action by Mrs. Jaffee will be forgone. If I decide that you are or probably are, the action will be pursued.”
“This is fantastic,” Helmar declared. “We submit to trial on a charge of murder, before you as judge and jury?”
“No, not as you put it. I may not apply sanctions; I have no electric chair in readiness. But if Mrs. Jaffee asks for an injunction, and you dispute it, and the court hears arguments, the degree of probability that one or more of you is implicated in murder will be a major point at issue and will be debated in court. That would be a disagreeable experience for you, and you may be able to prevent it by debating it here, privately, this evening. Do you want to try? If you do, we’d better start. It’s ten o’clock.”
They looked at one another. “What do you mean by inquiry?” Viola Duday demanded. “Do you mean you question us on anything you please, as the police have? Each of us has spent hours, many hours, with the police.”
Wolfe shook his head. “That would take days. I will want to ask some questions — for instance, I shall ask you about the secret talk which Mr. Fomos says you had last week with his wife — but not too many. I propose another method. I suggest an exposition from each of you. You have all been questioned exhaustively by the police, and so should have all pertinent facts and considerations freshly and clearly in mind. Put it this way: I say to you, Miss Duday, there is a suspicion current that you had something to do with the murder of Priscilla Eads, and also of Margaret Fomos, and even that you may have actually committed those crimes with your own hands. What have you to say to remove or discredit that suspicion? You may have half an hour. Well?”
“That’s a subtle and dangerous trick, Viola,” Helmar warned her.
“How dangerous to the innocent?” Wolfe demanded.